I finished my K2 a few weeks ago and have to first thank Don W3FPR for
helping me with the alignment and final check-out. After bringing it
back home, I went to work on the KAT100-2. That was a few
evening/afternoon project, but it is done and it has been mated with
KZ1X's old KPA100 very nicely (which is the only part of my K2 setup
that I didn't build). Thanks to Don (again) for his assistance on this
reflector for information on mating the KPA100 to the KAT100-2, and to
the base K2.
This past weekend I finally got the rig on the air for the first time.
I have a small (slightly less than 1/4 wave on 17m) ground-plane
vertical mounted on a fence post about 20' behind my townhome.
Definitely not the most optimal of working conditions, but it's the
best I can do for now. The KAT100-2 was able to make very good matches
to my feedline and antenna on most of the bands I wanted to work. I
spent a few hours over the course of this past weekend on 20m and 40m.
On 20m SSB I picked up a little DX (Switzerland, Germany, Hungary) and
a few special event stations and ragchews with folks in CO, MA, VT,
MS, and WI. On 40m CW I was able to have a couple of short QSOs with
folks in PA and IA before QSB and QRN got the best of us.
What a lot of fun it is to use a rig that you built yourself--and have
folks come back to you with excellent signal reports, too!
You'll notice that my S/N is about 1500 back. I bought the base kit
second-hand (eBay) from a fellow in late 2007/early 2008 and began
work on the kit in March '08. Since then, my first son was born (June
'08), I started a new job (September '08), we moved to a new home
(March '09) and "life" got in the way of me completing the kit in a
normal amount of time. Well, 2 1/2 years later I'm finally on the air!
It definitely feels like an accomplishment.
Thanks for a wonderful kit-building experience and now a wonderful
operating experience. I know I have a lot to learn about all of the
K2's features, but I feel well on my way...and I'm already thinking
about what mods I want to make to the rig (and my station) next!
73
-john W4PAH
Carrboro, NC
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